


Fateful Meeting

by ButterflyArrows



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Capture the Flag, Fluff, Multi, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 16:05:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7851844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButterflyArrows/pseuds/ButterflyArrows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An world, where instead of a seven year difference between them, Ethan Nakamura is fifteen years old, and Luke Castallen is sixteen. A story about them first meeting, Ethan getting used to the camp, and swirling emotions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fateful Meeting

          "Luke! Wake up already, dude!”

           The young counselor groaned as he got roused from his slumber. After the sing-down at last night’s campfire ended up with spells tossed this way and that, Luke didn’t exactly get a comfortable night’s sleep. Luke grabbed his sheets. Burrowing his face in the pillow, he had the hope that whoever woke him got what they came for and would soon exit.

           Unfortunately, this would not be the case. Although his ears were buried under blankets, Luke’s hearing was still sharp enough to hear someone ransacking the cabin’s stocked storage. In his daze, Luke wondered if the Hermes’ cabin was in the middle of  being robbed. It would be good if it did, he mused, would get rid of some of the clutter, at least.  

   _BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!_

            “What on Earth was that?” Luke yelped as he shot up, banging his head on a low hanging light fixture, blankets still over his head. His pulse raced as his mind filtered through the various options. They included but not limited to, an attack by monsters, the start of prank war, a robber with a very high pitched voice, and/or a sign from the gods. All these scenarios got proven incorrect, once Luke tore the sheets blocking his vision.

            The noise that came from Luke’s mouth, when he saw the impish, teenager holding a small air horn, was a cross between a growl and a snarl. “Travis, what do you want?”

           “Just here to tell you that there’s a new camper waiting for you by Thalia’- er, the front gate.” Travis winced as he shoved the air horn back into the trunk where it came. “Better go and introduce yourself, you know, the basic drill.”

           Luke pressed a hand to his throbbing skull. The echo of the blast from the horn still rang. “Great. Just great. As if this place isn’t cramped enough, we have a new camper.” He grumbled.

            He clambered down from the perch of his top bunk, down to the floor, and put on his shoes. “What’s so funny?” Luke snapped when he heard a snicker from Travis. Not bothering to wait for a reply, Luke stormed through the screen door, on a hunt for the new demigod.

 

*

 

            The path leading from the cabins, past the Arts & Crafts cabin, to Thalia’s Pine, was quite deserted. Most campers were relaxing in their cabins, preparing for tomorrow’s Capture the Flag match, or training their skills. Luke wished he could relax, and enjoy the summer’s warm weather. Being a head counselor had both its privileges, such as first pick on marshmallows, and its disadvantages, such as the constant stress for all the campers that were under your watch. The stress was worth it, especially if one of your little campers slayed a large monster or something like the sort. As Luke mused and pondered, he noticed the few campers outside were watching him walk down the path. Tossing them a wink only got him giggles in return. Though this did seem to be strange behavior, Luke left it alone, and continued his walk to the gate.

            As sweat collected on his lower back, Luke began to wish that he put on some sunscreen before leaving his cabin. It was the height of summer for Long Island; the middle of July. The whole atmosphere was thick and heavy, even with the camp’s magical barriers against weather in place. A cool breeze drifted through, sending Luke’s blond locks flying across his face. Luke sighed with relief, as the breeze might mean the weather might be cooling off for the afternoon. As the long walk continued, many pesky trials began to prey on Luke’s thoughts. He had mosquito bites located on his right elbow, lower left thigh, and on the back of his neck. A great big blister was ready to pop on his heel, and to top it all off, he had one nasty hangnail. All these petty things were eating at Luke, and when he finally reached the front gate of the camp, he was ready to bite that new demigod’s head off and spit it out.

            “Excuse me! Do you know where I have to go- well, thanks anyway!”

            Luke halted, and watched. A wiry Asian boy with silky and glossy black hair and warm, inviting brown eyes, shouted and tried to flag down a passerby. The boy was about the same age as Luke, so fifteen, more or less. It appeared that this boy was the new demigod, or at least, Luke hoped he was.

            “Hey,” Luke walked towards the unknown teenager. “I’m Luke Castallen, head counselor. Where’s your satyr?”

            The boy furrowed his brow. “My… what? Sorry, I don’t know what you’re referring to, exactly. My name is Ethan, in case you were wondering. Ethan Nakamura.”

            “Well, Ethan, who brought you to camp?” Luke asked, stretching to reach the itchy mosquito bite on the back of his neck.

            Ethan shrugged. “It was just this person I sort of knew, from school. He was in my pre-algebra class, sat behind me. Anyway, just the other day he showed up at my house. Said that there was some great evil coming and that it was my time to go to this camp. Is this the camp?

            “If it isn’t, we’ll need a new sign.” Luke chortled, and gestured above, to the great arch displaying the camp’s name.

            As Ethan craned his neck, looking at the wooden sign, Luke coughed. “Great evil?” He muttered to himself. “Why can’t it be like… a friendly evil?”

            “Anyway,” Luke said loudly, causing Ethan to jump and glance over. “So, your classmate brought you here, and then left you here too?”

            “Seems like. He had something to do at some place called the Big House. Is this a juvenile detention center, or something?” Ethan asked in wonder as he say a pair of demigods sprint down the path.

            The lean and tanned demigod laughed, and put a hand to his hip. “Can’t say I heard that one before… if you want, I can you show you to the Big House. So, you can meet your sta- er, your classmate.” Ethan nodded in agreement, and the pair set off.

            “So, if not a juvenile detention center… what is this place? A summer camp?”

            “Year around camp, actually, it’s a long story.” Luke swerved around a demigod loaded down with full strawberry baskets. “For some pretty special kids.”

            Ethan stood in the middle of path, looking  at all the wonders that Camp Half-Blood to offer. Luke studied him for a moment. Not once, in his long years being a head counselor, heck, not even in his years of being at Camp Half-Blood, has Luke seen such an at peace with the world sort of person. Ethan seemed to be an one of kind guy, for sure… even if he was blocking everyone’s way. Luke reached out and yanked on his shirt sleeve, pulling him to the edge of the path, where there was less foot traffic.

            “Might want to be careful, kid, you almost got trampled.” Luke ruffled Ethan’s hair and gave him a smile.

            Ethan laughed and fixed his parting. “Gee, thanks for the advice. Is this the place?” He gestured to the large and imposing building on his right.

            “Yep, that’s it alright. Just head on in there and then ask for Chiron. He’ll tell you what you need to know.”

            “Thanks, Luke.” He climbed up the steps, paused, and look behind his shoulder. “I like the mustache, by the way. It's a nice touch.” Ethan scurried through the porch’s screen door, away from Luke’s vision.

            “…Mustache?” Luke self consciously rubbed his hand on his upper lip. When examined, his hand was stained with black ink. Dashing for the restroom, Luke’s suspicions were correct. It seemed at some point during his nap, someone drew a comical mustache on him. Luke groaned. Usually such a prank would have him chuckling good naturally, but right now, he just wanted to wring the neck of the person that thought it was a good idea. Though while a closer look at his reflection showed no colour in his cheeks, Luke’s face burned. He wasn’t sure why he was feeling so embarrassed about his situation. Worse, more embarrassing, things have happened after all. The time his shorts fell down while climbing the lava wall was awful for sure. Not as bad the time where his voice cracked when he was addressing his campers in front of the entire camp, though. No matter the reason, Luke determined, there was no better remedy for embarrassment then just going out and facing it, head on. With that encouraging though, he gave his face one more wipe with a damp paper towel and headed out into the hot sun.

 

*

 

            Luke didn’t see Ethan until dinner that evening. After he settled his campers into their table, Luke noticed Chiron beckoning him to come closer. Joining the wise centaur, Luke nodded at him, Ethan, Mr. D as well as his children Pollux and Castor, and the assorted satyrs at the table.

            “Attention!” Mr. D bellowed, calling every camper’s attention. “It seems like we have yet another demigod. Please, everyone, welcome, Evan Datamura.” Luke, as well as everyone else at the Head Table winced at the blunder of Ethan’s name. Campers politely applauded before digging into their dinners.

            “Well,” Chiron coughed. “Luke, according to Ethan’s recount of today’s events, you two already met. I drew the conclusion that you wouldn’t mind another student to teach, is this correct?”

            “Indeed. I would be happy to welcome Ethan to Camp Half-Blood, and as a member of Cabin Eleven.” Luke’s mouth went into a broad grin.

            Chiron too smiled at the young pair of demigods, and clapped Ethan on the back. “Luke here will make sure your stay at camp is a wonderful and wholesome learning experience.”

            “Great…” Ethan faked enthusiasm. “I...look… forward to it!” Luke rolled his eyes at the obvious lie, and dragged the boy away, and towards the table only for the members of Cabin Eleven.

            “You know,” Luke began, as he and Ethan wedged their bodies and dinner plates onto the crowded table. “This place isn’t too bad. It’s pretty decent, once you get used to the whole, well, god thing and all.”

            Ethan cautiously ate some of his brisket, and perked up when his taste buds realized they liked it. “When did you get used to it?”

            “About a day after arriving, to be honest.” Luke bit into a hunk of bread, and swallowed it before asking his question. “What about you? How are you dealing with it?”

            He shrugged. “It’s okay. Explains some strange things for sure. I suspect I’ll get used to it pretty fast too. So, what do you do here?”

            “Didn’t Chiron explain? We protect demigods, and give them a place to train, relax, and be safe.” Luke took a swig from his goblet and belched. “Excuse me.”

            Ethan, being a teenage boy at heart, snickered. “I didn’t ask about what the camp does, I asked about what you do.”

            “Oh, well, in that case…” Luke glanced around at the rowdy table. “I’m in charge of these guys.”

            Someone on Ethan’s right jabbed him in the side. “That’s just a fancy way of saying he bosses us around.”

            The new found demigod was shaking with silent laughter. “Can anyone give a straightforward answer here?”

            “I’m a swordfighting teacher.” Luke offered, and grinned when he saw Ethan light up. “Oh, _someone_ sure is interested…”

            “You learn how to fight here? Like, real fighting?” Ethan asked, eyes shining, glancing about. “That is so cool.”

            Luke laughed at the boy’s excitement. “What did you think training meant? Sitting around, twiddling our thumbs?”

            “I don’t know, I thought you meant studying or something. But swordfighting?” Ethan leaned forward. “What else do we can train in?”

            “Archery, makeup, crafts, metalworking, magic…” Luke ticked off the options on his fingers. “Really, anything you can think of, we have a place for it, here at Camp Half-Blood. Pretty cheesy, I know, but hey, it’s actually true.”

            Ethan nodded thoughtfully and chewed. “Since you’re a swordfighting teacher, I would assume that means you’re one of the best sword fighters in camp.”

            “Only the greatest fighter this camp has ever seen in the past three hundred years, sport.” A demigod from down the table grunted and tore off a juicy hunk of brisket.

            Luke scolded, said demigod. “Arthur, play nice for once will you? He’s new after all, stop being so fresh.” He turned to face Ethan again. “And yes, the claim is true. Well, I don’t exactly know if it’s true, since I’m not over three hundred years old-“

            Arthur snorted. “Could have fooled me, _Grandpa_. With your fighting style, I would be surprised if Chiron was younger than you.”

            “Hello!” Ethan cut off any chance of Luke landing a cutting remark, and stretched across the table to try and shake hands with the grumpy teenager. “ I'm Ethan. Nice to meet you.”

            With another grunt, Arthur took his dinner to the other side of the crowded table. Ethan gave a playful eye roll, and dug back into his own dinner. Luke admired the kid’s resilience, and continued his line of topic from before. “As I was saying, I am in fact, a pretty decent swordfighter. Why do you comment on it?”

            “Would you teach me?” Ethan blurted and winced as little pieces of his food erupted from his mouth and landed on the table, his shirt, and Luke’s cheek.

            Luke’s crystal blue eyes widened as he brushed the saliva coated morsel off his face. “Well, sure. I teach some classes too but I would be happy to try and give you some one-on-one lessons sometimes. When would you like to begin?”

            “What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Ethan asked, curious about the camp’s timetable. As Luke began to describe the camp’s regular and daily routine, he noted that Ethan’s brown eyes were starting to glaze over, so he quickly wrapped up the message.

            “After dinner then we’ll have our Capture the Flag event. If you would like, we can begin your training before hand, so you would stand a fair chance. If you want to start that soon, that is.” Luke added hastily, knowing the risks of throwing someone into something new too fast, too soon.

            Ethan clenched his fists under the table in contained excitement. “Of course I want to! I mean... that sounds like it would be fine.” With that final statement, the conch shell blew, and the swarm of campers headed off to their respective cabins, for the night.

 

*

 

            “Can _no one_ find a bit of territory for Ethan to sleep tonight?” Luke groaned in anguish as he threw down the new sleeping bag he claimed for Ethan on the ground.

            “Oy!” A failing hand flapped under the mass of blankets. “Easy there!”

            Luke huffed, grabbed the sleeping ware he acquired and tossed it on his bunk. “You’ll just have to bunk with me tonight, I guess. It’s better than being outside, that’s for sure. I’ll try to rearrange this place  tomorrow, to try and get you something more practical, newbie.”

            Ethan cautiously weaved through the mess that was the floor of the Hermes Cabin. He grimaced as he stepped on people’s hands, their stuff, and some strange objects lying all around the place.  Just as he reached Luke, he slipped on what seemed to be a marble. Ethan would have gone sprawling if Luke’s reflexes weren’t so fast. _Wow,_ Luke the savior thought. _This guy is pretty cute after all_. Unfazed by his realization, Luke stood Ethan up, and gestured the ladder to the top bed. “ _Apres vous._ ”

            As the two of them fluffed pillows, unrolled sleeping bags, and casually took off their pants and shirts, the lights in the cabin went out. The members of Cabin Eleven groaned, and switched on their flashlights for a bit more time to chat, relax, and read. “Wow.” Ethan glanced from his perch. “This is one of the biggest sleepovers _I’ve_ ever been to.”

            “Mhm.” Luke yawned, taking off his necklace and tying it around a bedpost. “Better get used to the view, I suppose.” Ethan took the cue, and snuggled into a burrow of blankets. Luke flipped over, to face away from him, and began pondering. While it was true that Luke himself had a few ‘crushes’ on various members of the camp, he never actually entered a relationship of his own. Frankly, he didn’t know if he could handle the stress a relationship held, or if he even wanted such a responsibility. _Funny,_ Luke chuckled to himself. _I would happily take on a dangerous quest, but I balk at the idea of having a boyfriend_. Suddenly feeling tired, Luke glanced over at a clock. 11:11 PM. Wouldn’t hurt to say a quick little wish or two…worth a shot, they might listen. _Hey gods_ , he began. _Hope all is going well. Please don’t make my life suck, and if you would keep an eye on Ethan, and all the other campers, make sure they’re safe and good..well, that would be just great_. As the clock flipped to 11:12, the counselor slipped into a long and dreamless slumber.

            Soon, the cabin was still. The mummers have stopped, flashlights were turned off, and the noise of flipping pages ceased. All was still…until the door opened with a crash and a bang, at around one in the morning. Ethan tumbled out of the bed, and moaned as he hit the floor. “What’s happening?” He wondered out loud, while rubbing his injured elbow.

            “Raid!” A medley of dismayed voices said in an uproar. Luke squinted in the gloomy darkness of the cabin, and switched on an overhead light to see better. Unfortunately, this just allowed the robbers to rampage through the cabin’s storage, while the still blearily eyed campers merely blinked in confusion.  The thieving was quick and furious, with the criminals in question succuring out of the door in mere minutes. Wearily, Luke came down the bunk bed ladder to access the damage.

            The other campers clustered around him when he picked up a ripped off piece of red fabric hanging from a rust covered nail. “The Ares cabin.” He said with a groan.  “Quick, take inventory, and see if what they took could be replaceable.”

            “Oh, how could this happen?” A demigod –Luke believed their name was Erin- stomped their foot, clothed by a bunny slipper, in anger. “After we just got that fancy security system, _and_ the magical cloak from Athena’s kids? Something is up.”

            Ethan appeared, with a bandage around his elbow. Olympus knows where he got that from, the place was a sty, even before the raid. “What’s wrong? Did they pull a prank on us, or something?”

            “Ah, no. According to the data sheets, the “raiders” AKA Cabin Five took battle weapons. Catapults, swords, spears… the like.” Another demigod, an unclaimed boy named Hector, who Luke thought might be Athena’s son, piped up. “It’s my suspicion that they want a leg –or a catapult- above the Hermes cabin during the game tomorrow.”

            Luke nodded at the conclusion, and turned to Ethan to see if he understood, since Hector could be a little wordy at times. “Every week, the entire camp forms two teams, and we play Capture the Flag.” He explained. “The main pairing is Ares vs Athena and it’s a battle of strength, teamwork and wits.”

            “Are you quoting directly from Chiron?” Ethan asked, squinting to see in the harsh light of the cabin. Without waiting for an answer, Ethan made another comment. “Something tells me that we side with the Athena cabin more often than not, correct? Do the Ares campers always raid you?”

            Luke was surprised at how easily Ethan got adjusted to the whole idea of camp, and Greek gods, and being in a strange place with strange people. “Well, no, they don’t usually. This is one of the few times I’ve seen them raid anyone. They always seemed to have plenty of weapons…”

            “ Ares is the god of warfare right? So why would his children need to raid cabins for extra weapons? They probably have fleets of well armed and prepared catapults, why would they even bother with ours? Hermes isn’t known for quality weapons, just masses of stolen junk.” Ethan gestured to the cabin’s interior, and paused after his burst of speech and waited for someone to respond.

            Hector gave a cough. “Ahem. So, are you suggesting that the raid was merely a distraction tactic, meant to mislead us?”

            “Yes, that’s exactly my point.” Ethan concluded his piece with a nod.

            Luke cleared his throat. If what Ethan said was true, the goal of the Ares cabin was to tire out the Hermes campers, in the vain hope that they would be too tired to fight in tomorrow’s –or rather, today’s- games as well as the bonus of gathering more weapons and weakening the Hermes cabin defenses. The plan of course, was flawed, because the raiders themselves would surely be tired out from their early morning raid. Besides, all the best stuff was at the Athena cabin anyways. “Alright gang,” Luke yawned, wincing as his jaw popped from the effort. “Let’s hit the hay. Again.”

            “Shouldn’t we come up with battle plans for revenge?” Erin’s deep, green coloured eyes glinted in the lighting as her mouth turned into a smirk. “Give those jerks what’s coming to them?”

            “Later,” He promised, yawning again. “I personally can’t really make good plans when standing here in my boxers.”

            The cabin erupted with laughter, that grew quiet when they realized it was half past one in the morning. Shuffling off to bed, Luke noticed Ethan shaking hands with Hector and smiled at the sight of them getting along. _Good kid_ , he thought, switching off the light.

            For the next five and half hours, before the cabin was roused back into the waking world, everything was perfectly still and quiet. Ethan seemed to get cold during his sleep, because he snuggled close to Luke’s warm body, and the sleeping boys were restful for the rest of their rest. In the morning however, Luke awoke first and detached himself from the arrangement of limbs, to get ready for the day. As he dressed, the conch sounded, bringing the rest of camp began to rouse itself to face the new morning.

            “Ethan,” Luke prodded the still sleeping boy carefully. “You need to get up, buddy. Gotta get ready for breakfast.” In response, Ethan burrowed into a nest of blankets, muttering something about “five more minutes, okay?” Luke promptly tore off the sheets, revealing the shivering little ball that was Ethan.  The exposed teenager let out a sharp yelp at the rush of cold air that hit his skin.

            “Where am I?” He sat up, sheepishly covering his bare chest with a sheet.

            Luke sighed. This wasn’t the first time that a new recruit woke up confused, and he knew that it wouldn’t be the last. However frequent, explaining the situation never got any easier. “You’re at Camp Half Blood, in Cabin Eleven. I’m Luke Castallen, your counselor, remember?”

            Ethan nodded at this statement, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

            With a pat on Ethan’s back, and another sigh, which was one of relief for once, Luke hopped off the bed. He began to assist his other campers who were getting ready for the busy day. After braiding one of the youngest camper’s hair with ribbons, his attention was caught by the sounds of a scuffle. “Hey, Abby, your hair looks great with the blue and the purple ribbons. I’m going to go and check on the others, alright?” When he got a nod from the seven year-old, Luke cracked his knuckles and headed off to the source of the sounds. Weaving through the piles of items, and people, he located the sounds in a dark area of the cabin. Hiding behind a statue of some god (Luke couldn’t tell them all apart), he eavesdropped on the conversation of Hector and Arthur.

            “Artie, that would be an _awful_ idea.” Hector’’s low voice said. “You know we would get caught in mere minutes.”

            “Not with your planning tactics we wouldn’t! It’ll work out just great, you’ll see. Those wimps in the Ares cabin wouldn’t know what hit em!” Arthur argued.

            Luke stood up from his crouched position. _Not a scuffle,_ he realized. _Just some elaborate plot to take revenge on the Ares cabin. No biggie._

            Walking away from the scene, he chatted up some other campers, talking about the games and what not. Battle strategies and clothes were being tossed around, as people prepared for the day ahead. Somewhere in the distance, the conch sounded again, signalling for counselors to start bringing their charges to the dining pavilion. "Cabin Eleven,” Luke called above the din. “Fall in!”

            Ethan stood, looking nice in his clean clothes, but also  confused at the line that was forming. “Come on, we line up in order of our seniority. Just head to the back, and you’ll be fine.” A camper that Ethan didn’t recognize instructed. Once everyone was in their right spots, the gaggle of demigods headed off towards breakfast.

 

*

 

            “How’s your breakfast, champ?” Luke ruffled Ethan’s hair, sliding into the small space beside him on the bench. He didn’t know why he kept treating Ethan like he was some little kid. There was a year gap between them, not like, seven. Ethan was fifteen, according to the information Luke received from Ethan’s stayr, and Luke himself just turned sixteen a few months ago.

            The younger demigod gave a thumbs up as he swallowed his bacon. “This is some of the most delicious food I ever tasted, better than my dad’s for sure.”

            “Well, harpies are pretty good chefs when they’re not hunting down renegade souls after all.” Luke joked, and then became more serious. “About your dad… could you tell me a bit more about your family life? We could try piecing together your relationship with the old gods  from there.”

            Ethan nodded, and took a sip of juice before explaining. “Ever since I can remember, it was just me and my dad. I don’t have any other siblings, half siblings, or step parents and he never spoke of my mother.”

            “What does your father do for a living? Some godly figures like mortals who work in the fields that the deity controls.”

            “Does that mean your mother was a top notch bank thief?” Ethan tried to joke, but stopped laughing when he saw Luke’s stormy and unamused expression. Clearly, family was a touchy subject, so Ethan made a note not to bring it up again.  “Ahem. My father is a judge. He works for the courthouse in our town.”

            “Justice system, huh?” Luke reviewed his list of gods and goddesses. “The only deity I can think of, which is connected to justice and law, is Zeus.”

            “Zeus? But he’s a...” Ethan trailed off. He didn’t want to raise any more pressure points. Luke smiled at the hesitation.

            “…god.” Luke finished the sentence, along with his pancakes. “Yeah, it’s strange, but gods don’t really care about gender so much. They just like what they like, and do what they want to do, with who they want to do it with. Male, female, neither… doesn’t matter to them.” The pair slipped into silence. Clearly, neither of them thought they would be this conversation, especially not at eight AM, surrounded by chattering and busy people.

            “After breakfast, we can start your swordfighting skills. So you’re ready for tonight’s showdown in the woods.” Luke suggested, twirling his fork between his fingers casually.

            Ethan smiled and with his spoon, sent Luke’s fork tumbling off the table and clattering on the stones. “Sounds like a good deal to me. I can’t wait to start.”

 

*

 

            “Seems a bit… large.” Luke studied Ethan’s body, covered in thick and heavy armor. Said amour was slipping off of Ethan’s lanky body. “Gee,” Ethan said as an armplate fell off. “You don’t say.”

            Luke rolled his eyes playfully, and yanked Ethan’s helmet off. “Okay, okay. No need for the sass, mister. Take it off, maybe there’s something smaller in here.”

            “Not sure why I need full on armour to play Capture the Flag.” Ethan complained, yanking off his leg plating. “Isn’t it just a game?”

            “Oh yeah, it is.” Luke inspected a shield and tossed it aside. “Just a game that could end up with your skin getting covered with boils, no big deal. Now, where did I put that… aha!” He proudly held up a box. Ethan squatted beside Luke. “What is it? The old amour of Hercules or something?”     

            “Nah, I think we melted that down for scrap metal five years ago. This is better anyway.” Luke cut the tape sealing the box with his fingernail. “This might actually fit you.”

            Ethan gasped. He was no amour specialist, but the breastplate in the box was seriously righteous. “Whoa. How did that even get here? What does it do?”

            “Some adult demigod wanted to invent amour that could be worn comfortably under clothes.” Luke polished the metal with his shirt. “This was her prototype. The plan got ditched, for some reason, but Chiron shoved this in the weapons shed for safe keeping. Try it on!”

            Following Luke’s advice, Ethan slipped on the breastplate and gave a little spin. “Almost a perfect fit. Shame that it’s not a full set though.”

            “Yeah...” Luke glanced around the shed. “At least this is something in the right direction though. We'll cobble the rest together later. But now, to the swordfighting arena!”

            “Gosh,” Ethan said as he and Luke trotted down the path. “It feels like I’ve been here forever, instead of less than a day.”

            Luke laughed a bit. “You’re like a chameleon, adjusting yourself to everything flung at you. It’s really incredible.”

            “Wow, thanks. I always wanted to be a shape-shifter after all!” Ethan sounded flattered. “We can just add that to my growing list of nicknames, huh?”

            “What can I say,” Luke flung an arm around his new friend’s shoulders. “I’m a nicknaming sort of guy. At least for the people I like. Wait no, I nickname everyone.”

            “Oh gee,” Ethan rolled his eyes and jested dryly. “I’m so special, aren’t I just.” He winced as Luke hit him in the shoulder. “Oh ow. That hurt.”

            Patting the injury, Luke apologized. “Sorry. Guess I just don’t know my own strength.”

            “You don’t say?” Ethan rolled up his new shirt sleeve to reveal the forming bruise. “Save it for the fight next time. Speaking of fights…” He gestured widely to the large dirt area, where pairs sparred, and someone taught an advanced class.

            “We’ve arrived. Time to show me your non existent stuff, Nakamura.”

            “Oh please. Your only talent is bragging.” Ethan challenged.

            “You’ll be eating those words. Come on, let’s settle the scores.” Luke grabbed Ethan’s wrist and sprinted down the hill, towards  the arena’s entrance.

 

*

 

            Needless to say, Ethan’s words were eaten. As was a couple mouthfuls of dirt. Wow, this guy has work cut out for him, Luke thought, helping Ethan up for what had to be the seventeenth time. “You’re really getting the hang of this!” He said cheerfully.

            “Stop your lying, already.” Ethan moaned in response. “I’ve never exercised this hard. Expect for in grade seven’s gym class.”

            “Oh really?” Luke asked before drinking some water. “What happened then?”

            “It’s just a boring story. You probably don’t want to hear about middle school stuff anyway. You deal with super cool stuff after all.”

            Luke flopped down on the gentle slope. “I happen to adore boring stories. So, please, indulge me.”

            “Well, since you asked so nicely, here goes,” Ethan shifted so he was sitting cross legged on the warm, sun soaked grass. “I was in seventh grade, as I said, and gym class was the only time I got to spend with my crush. Mark was really good at soccer, and I thought if I tried to impress him…”

            “He might ask you out?” Luke guessed.

            “Yeah, that was the brilliant plan.” Ethan nodded. “But, I failed to realize that I was really bad at playing soccer. And baseball. And football. And tennis. Pretty much all the core sports. So, the plan failed, because the only time Mark noticed me was when I broke my nose trying to be goalie, and he just laughed. So that was the end of my crush on Mark, and my sports career.” Ethan concluded his story by flopping on the grass and turning away from Luke.

            Luke was silent, and then spoke. “You know, I had no idea you were into guys. I thought because of your reaction to the talk we had at breakfast…”

            “You thought I was straight?” Ethan asked. “Hey, I got to finish one of your sentences for once.  Ah, balance is restored at all. For the record, I was just confused about the biological having of the babies thing about it.”

            “Right, I guess that might be a bit confusing to people that had mortal health classes.” Luke stood up, as the campers training swarmed the hill, exiting the arena.

            Ethan glanced around at the crowd. “What’s all this about? Is something happening?”

            “Nothing dangerous, I swear.” Luke made an x over his heart. “Just a normal rest hour.”

 

*

 

            “This is not what I had in mind for a normal rest hour, Luke!”

            Ethan was running after Luke as he said that. The pair were in the deeply mystical woods of Camp Half Blood, being chased by a… actually, Luke had no idea what was chasing them. Maybe a monster, maybe a really ticked off nymph, you could never really tell until said thing was devouring you alive. Their arms, fresh with scratches from the undergrowth, clawed through the low-hanging branches, trying to find shelter from their predator.  A miracle occurred, and Ethan discovered a tiny cave. Grabbing Luke, they dove into their new found treasure and held their breath.

           “I think we’re good,” Luke whispered loudly. Ethan snickered, and covered his mouth with his hands as he hissed for Luke to shut up. Resting on the rock wall covered with dirt, Luke grinned broadly. He had totally forgot he signed up for patrol of the woods. Luckily enough, Ethan was a good sport and volunteered to come with him. _Of course that might not have been a good idea…_ Luke realized. Chiron would kill me if Ethan got killed, after all. Well, it seemed that Ethan was getting the hang of monster patrol . Anyway, it’s a good life lesson, being chased by something of mysterious origin, after all, you never know what could happen to you out in the world. Shaking his head, Luke shifted to face Ethan. He was presently peeking around the corner, looking for their chaser.

            “Wow, the coast is actually clear.” Ethan nodded. “I can take as a good sign, right?”

            “Yep, we’re lucky. Whatever was chasing us probably just got bored or something. Shouldn’t be bothering us anymore.”  Luke said and smiled as Ethan huffed with relief. _Of course, that monster could easily attack at any moment, but you know, screw the monster._ Luke thought. _I’m tired. After all, it is rest hour, not attacking hour._

             “How are you liking camp so far?” Luke asked, curious.

            “It’s pretty good… am I going to have to stay here for much longer though? I mean, school starts in a month, and my father isn’t going to be pleased if I miss school.”

            “Well, it really depends on if you can survive in the world without being hunted down by monsters at every turn.” He explained. “For some of the more powerful demigods, it’s almost impossible to live a regular lifestyle. Don’t worry though, those cases are really quite rare.”

            Satisfied with this answer, Ethan continued on his line of questioning. “Do you go home for the winter?”

            “Uh, no, I stay here year round. Counselor and all that. Besides, camp is my home now.”

            Ethan twirled a piece of hair around his finger, lost in his thoughts. “Are you a powerful demigod, Luke?”

            Luke was startled by the question. He never really gave thought to his long term potential as being a demigod. Frankly, he was just worried about surviving another day, however mundane that might be. “I don’t think so.”

            “You could be, for sure though. You have the drive, and the talent. All you need is some sort of motive and a target-“ Ethan halted himself, and squinted at Luke. “Sorry. I go off on some tangents sometimes. You know how it goes.”

            Flapping a hand causally, Luke’s thoughts went into overdrive. _The drive, the talent, the motive, the target… sounds just like an attack strategy. Could he be suggesting… No that would be ridiculous. What would Ethan even know about battle plans, anyway?_ “Hey look,” he said, glancing out of the mouth of the cave. “Looks like we can go now, that monster is nowhere to be seen. It’s about time for lunch, anyway.”

            “What happens after lunch?” Ethan asked.

            “You got to go on a basic training course for new recruits.” Luke took point and led them out of the cave, and back into the woods. “Meanwhile, I have to attend a counselor meeting –which is just as boring as it sounds, trust me- and then teach my beginning sword fighting class.”

            A loud crash from the bush caused him to whirl around. “Ethan? Where are you?”

            There was no response. Luke felt a chill go up his spine. He had a feeling that this wasn’t a prank. Ethan just didn’t seem like the type to pull off something so idiotic. Unsheathing his sword, Luke held it close to his body. Stepping lightly, he made his way through the underbrush, careful not to step on any twigs. After a peek into the cave confirmed that Ethan was in fact, not there, Luke resigned himself to head deeper into the woods in search of the missing demigod.  As he prowled the area, he couldn’t help thinking about what Ethan said about him being powerful. _You could,_ a thought nagged at Luke, _you could take that sword and wreck havoc._ Ducking under a hanging tree branch, Luke shook his head clear of the annoying thoughts. It was not the time to dwell on what he could, or could not accomplish. No, it was time to find Ethan and get the heck out of the woods. Pausing, Luke bent down to inspect a mark in the dirt. It looked like a claw mark, and it headed towards the left. Taking his chances, Luke too, headed for the left, knowing that the monster couldn’t have gotten very far. _Besides_ , Luke assured himself, _Ethan could totally take care of himself._ A glint in a bush caught his gaze. _Or not,_ he thought, pulling the hilt of Ethan’s training sword out from the bush. _Yeah, he’s doomed_. Upping the pace, Luke forgot about being sneaky, and just barrelled through the woods.

            Finally, Luke spotted a large beast, sporting a pair of wings and more legs than required. In their beastly claw was a squirming Ethan, who appeared to be trying to bite the creature. With a deep breath and a helmet adjustment, Luke ran to the rescue. Using the classic stab and twist maneuver, Luke struck the monster’s soft belly. The pain caused it to unleash a mighty roar, and luckily, drop Ethan. Yanking his sword from the wound, and grabbing Ethan by the arm, Luke ran for the hills.Sun shining, wind racing, monster chasing… ah, this is the life. Luke grinned. Sliding through piles of slick leaves, and hopping over rocks, he managed to outrun the beast, and retreat to the safety of the camp’s border.

            “Ethan,” Luke panted, exhausted from the chase. “Are you okay?”

            Breathless, he nodded. “Yeah. Thanks for saving me back there… I would have been monster food for sure, without you.”

            “It was no big deal,” Luke said, blushing from the praise. “I mean, you would have done the same thing for me, right?”

            “If by “doing the same thing” you mean running for my life and never looking back… then yes, I would have done exactly that.” Ethan jested. “But seriously, thanks. I mean, you barely know me, and then you risked your life like that… it means a lot, you know?”

            Luke nodded, because he _did_ know. It was remarkable the kinship that he and Ethan had already, considering the fact they just met. “We would make a fine brothers-in-arms pair.”

            “What does that mean?”

            “Oh, brothers-in-arms? The proper definition is when two soldiers fight together. It just refers to the feeling you get when you’re fighting in a war, and you have a comrade that you would protect with your life. There has been some famous duos in history.. Achilles and Patroclus was one of better known ones.” Luke was startled to see Ethan stare at him with such focus. “What’s wrong?”

            “Nothing, I was just staring off into space. Anyway, isn’t there somewhere we should be by now?” Ethan cocked his head. “We were in there for a long time after all.”

            Luke slapped a hand to his forehead, wincing at the impact. “Right! We probably missed lunch at this rate. You need to report to the climbing wall as soon as possible. Do you remember where that is?”

            “The big scary thing with the lava pouring off it? Yeah, I think I remember that.”

            “I’ll see you at dinner then!” Luke called, before jogging off to his meeting

 

*

 

            Slipping in through the rec room door, Luke took a spot beside Silena Beauregard, head counselor for Cabin 10, Aphrodite's, cabin. “Where have you been off to?” She asked with a wink.

            “Getting monster blood all over my shirt. How late am I?” He asked, worried he missed something that was important.

            “We haven’t even started talking about anything yet. Now,” Eyes sparkling, Silena bent forward to speak more privately. “What’s this about a new camper in Cabin Eleven?”

            Luke rested his elbows on the table, putting his chin in hands. “His name’s Ethan, and don’t you get any ideas.”

            Silena batted her eyelashes playfully. “Oh, please. I was just wondering about his potential for completion during capture the flag. You know we have to keep an eye on the opponents…” For some reason, Cabin 10 always sided with Cabin 5. The alliance between Aphrodite and Ares was always strong, as was the relationship between Silena and Clarisse la Rue, the head counselor for the Ares cabin. Classire was giving Luke a death glare, from across the table.

           “What’s up with her?” Luke whispered to SIlena, gesturing at Classire. “Someone put a rat in her armour again or something?”

            “Luke, you were the only one to put a rat in her armour.” Silena huffed, rolling her eyes. “She’s just probably annoyed that we’re talking or something. You know how she gets sometimes.” He nodded. Luke did know how Classire got. She was brave, brash, loyal, and assertive. Not bad qualities for a person, of course, but with slightest hint of jealously, the careful balance of qualities could go screwy.

            Chiron picked that moment to clip clop into the room. “Sorry I’m late everyone, my appointment ran a tad late,” He apologized taking his seat at the head of the table. “Now, let’s get down to business…

*

                                                                                           

            After an hour of discussion over various camp related matters, (cabin inspections charts being updated, meals times being altered, and an expansion for the growing Apollo and Hermes cabins), the meeting was over. Luke waved goodbye to Silena, who blew him a kiss and ran off to give Classire a surprise hug. He smiled as they began quietly chatting and laughing passionately together.  After saying goodbye to some other friends of his, Luke headed off to prepare for his class.             

            Humming one of his favorite hymns under his breath, Luke put his discarded armour back on. After cleaning the blade of his sword carefully, he practiced attack maneuvers. The warm sun shone down on him, causing his armour to start to stick to his shirt which was sticking to his back. _Gods, I hope Ethan doing alright_ , Luke thought suddenly, _that training course could be brutal_. As his students came running down the hill, into the arena, Luke snapped out of his daze. There was a class to be taught after all. 

            “Posture, poise, and precision.” Luke began walking up and down the line of a dozen kids, the oldest being twelve, the youngest eight. “Those are the three elements of a good swordfighter. Backs straight, now, chins up!” As he spoke, he felt like electricity was flowing through his veins instead of blood. For some reason, whenever he saw that line of pupils, standing so proudly, his heart ached. Luke cleared his throat. “Today, we’re going to learn about the lunge. Place your dominant foot in front of your other. Bend the knee and thrust with your sword- Yes Rosemary?”

            “Uh, speaking of the swords, where are they? I thought this was a _sword fighting_ class, not a stretching course.” Rosemary said cheekily.

             Luke groaned inwardly, he was so out of it he forgot the _swords_. “Good point, Rosemary, I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere, class!” Jogging over to the supply room, Luke cursed himself. He had to be focused! The last time he taught a class with his head out of the game, someone nearly lost a finger. Grabbing the bin full of the practice swords, Luke headed back into the arena.

            “Sorry about that everyone. Here, grab a sword. No, Morgan, stop swinging it around or else you’re sitting out the rest of the class!” Luke scolded the ten year old boy. “There we go, by your side, like it should be.” Once the swords were handed out, Luke demonstrated the lunge using his own sword. Attaching it back to his belt, he addressed the class again. “Split off into pairs. Have one person be the offensive, doing the lunge, and one being the offensive, blocking the attack. Switch roles after five!”

            Luke counted the squirming children. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight… nine.” He spotted Abby, sword on the ground, skulking.  “What’s the  matter, Abby?” He asked softly, squatting beside her.  “I don’t have a partner.” She grumbled.

            He took her hand in his own. “I’ll be your partner. Don’t worry, it’ll be fun!” Abby thought about it, and nodded.

            As they took their places, Luke drew his sword and prepared for the drill. Abby shrieked loudly. Startled, Luke dropped his sword, on his foot. Holding back a cry of pain, he bit his lip. _Graceful, Castallen, real graceful._ Now his foot was bleeding, Abby was wailing, and the rest of his students were staring. “Abby,” He placed his hands on her small shoulders. “What’s the matter, sweetheart?”

            Luke couldn’t exactly her words from all the blubbering, but managed to recognize “sharp” “pointy” and “scary.” Glancing at his fallen sword, beside his bleeding scrape, he understood. Of course a small child would be terrified of a sharp pointy object, who wouldn't? “It’s fine, shush shush shush...” He played with her braids and gave her a big hug. After safely flinging his sword far away, wincing as it clanged on a rock, Luke picked up a practice sword. With another hug, and some reassuring words, the class began  again. With a last sniffle, Abby grasped her own practice sword and nodded. Luke’s heart swelled. Children had such an innocent look to them He just wished… they could have a chance to be kids for once. _This is not a time to be sentimental!_ Luke yelled to himself. _Snap out of it, already!_

               It was a long and hard practice. By the time the bell rung for campers to get ready for dinner, the class was exhausted. “Good work, everyone.” Luke covered his yawning mouth with his hand. “See you at the game tonight!” As soon as the last camper left, Luke collapsed on a rock and flopped backwards with a groan. The sun was beginning its slow, lazy descent; as it was around four thirty. Dinner is in half an hour, but he was too tired to move. As he was relaxing, he saw a shadow pass over his face.

            “Mm?” Luke stood up and turned around. “Oh, hey Ethan- jeez, what happened to you?” Ethan’s shirt was full of holes, he had a scorch mark on one cheek, and to top it all off, he had a scowl on his face.

            “Don’t even ask.” Ethan held up a hand like a stop sign. He bit back a smile as Luke gently high fived it. “That course was a death trap. How is this camp even _legal_?”

            Luke laughed. “There isn’t exactly inspection agencies for magical camps harbouring minors. Or at least, I don’t know any, myself.” After a big stretch, Luke went around the arena, picking up swords that didn’t make it back into the bin, and Ethan trailed him like a shadow.

            “And then Lee Fletcher told me my time was too slow and that I had to do it again!” Ethan concluded his woeful tale. “Anyway, how was your day?”

            “Oh, some tears, some cuts, some bruises, you know, the usual.” He tugged off his practice armour and hung it up. After reaching for his sword, Luke realized it was still where he tossed it. Retrieving it, he discovered there was a massive ding in the blade.

            “What’s the matter?” Ethan asked, and winced when he saw the weapon. “Oh, that can’t be good.”

            “I don’t have time for this! I can’t stand to miss another meal, not if I want to do well in the match,” His stomach growled and Luke scowled at it. “There’s no way I can fight with this kind of dent..”

            Ethan flipped the blade over, with care, in his hands. “Got a hammer?”

            “I could probably scourge one up…why do you ask?”

            “It isn’t going to be pretty, but hey, I might be able to fix it.”

            Luke winced as Ethan banged away at his celestial bronze sword. Sure, it wasn’t the best sword in the world, but it was special to him, and so seeing someone hitting it with a hammer was not comforting. Though…whatever Ethan was doing, it seemed to be working.

            “There we go, almost like it’s new.” Ethan handed the minted blade over to its owner. Luke held the blade, hand gripping the worn hilt. The blade was an extension of his arm by now, a fifth limb. Giving it a calculated swing, Luke smiled at the familiar whoosh sound, as the blade cut through the air.

            “This is great, thanks Ethan.” Luke said, placing the sword in his scabbard. “I really appreciate it.”

            “Consider the favor repaid.” He flapped a hand. “You saved me from that beast, I fix your sword. It’s a fair trade, thus the balance is repaired. Speaking of repairing things… be careful. That blade suffered quite a pounding. It might not handle another full out attack.”

            “Thanks for the warning, but I do believe that it’s time for dinner. Care to join me?” Patting the covered blade, Luke asked.

          “Do I have a choice?” Ethan rolled his eyes as they set off to the dining pavilion.

 

*

 

            One filling meal later, the Hermes cabin was hopping. People everywhere were getting ready, chatting about the plan, and arguing about bets on which team is going to win. Abby’s helmet was drooping over her nose, Erin’s arrows are missing, and for some reason, Hector and Arthur were nowhere to be found. Luke ran around trying to fix problems, while getting ready himself. Dropping off a set of blue and gold themed armour in Ethan’s hands, he zoomed off to fix someone else’s problem. When Luke came back, he was dismayed to find Ethan hadn’t put on his armour.

            “Yo, Nakamura,” Luke snapped his fingers. “Are you asleep? Why isn’t your armour on?”

            Ethan jumped slightly. “Oh, sorry. It’s just… I never put on a full set of armour on before…” Luke felt like kicking himself. Why would Ethan know how to do such a thing?

            As Luke strapped the armor onto his body, Ethan held his breath. “Ah… that’s not a good idea,” Luke glanced up. “If you suck in your stomach, I’ll tie the straps too tight. Once you exhale, it would really hurt.” In reply, Ethan let out the breath he was holding. After that hiccup, the rest was easy.  Putting on the helmet, Ethan gave a weak smile.

            “Do you need help getting ready?” He asked Luke who just began strapping on his leg greaves. Luke didn’t really need help, but he nodded anyway. Closing his eyes, he felt Ethan’s hot breath and light touches on his skin.

            With a shiver, Luke stepped forward, away from Ethan. “On..second thought, I think I have this.” Ethan nodded, and offered a smile, before walking across the cabin to talk with someone else. Luke’s heart pounded as he fumbled with attaching the breastplate. Now was not the time for feeling self conscious. The match was starting in less than half an hour, after all.

            “Alright!” Luke yelled in a commanding voice. Turning, all eyes were on him. After a brief moment of panic, he charged forward with his words.  “We all know that the Team Red won the past three matches. However, there’s always a chance for change. I say, Cabin Eleven, Team Blue will prevail tonight!” In response to the cry, Cabin Eleven exploded into an array of hoots, yells, and overall enthusiasm. Luke smiled proudly, looking over the crowd. Moments like these never failed to cheer him up.

            With a final look over at the plans, the group headed off to the woods, preparing to wage battle.

 

*

            Ethan struggled with his helmet. It was much too small and he could feel it digging into his ears. He sighed and gripped his sword tighter. Hearing someone stomping through the bush, Ethan turned around.

            “Hey there, squirt,” Luke said, “You ready for this?” With the light of the setting sun illuminating his armour, it looked like Luke was glowing, almost. Ethan nodded mutely at the question. “Good to hear! Now, do you want to be part of the offensive team or the defense team? There’s pros and cons to both. Like, for example…” As Luke explained the difference between the two, Ethan saw two figures dashing through the woods.

            “So!” Ethan snapped out of his thoughts, and focused on Luke’s face, masked by the helmet. Only his wide, smiling mouth and his devilishly bright blue eyes were visible. “Offense or defense?”

            “Which one are you doing?”

            Luke stretched. “Well, I’m usually part of the-“

            “Oy!” All of the sudden, a random girl popped up. With tangled blond curls poking out from under her helmet, and large gray eyes, she looked like someone you didn’t want to mess with. “When were you going to introduce me to your new friend here, Luke?”

            Luke merely laughed, not fazed by her sudden appearance. Instead, he tousled her hair, and tossed her a grin. “Oh, how could I have forgotten? Ethan, this was my old travel buddy, Annabeth Chase.” Ethan shook the girl’s hand –she couldn’t have been more than two years younger than he and Luke- and offered his hellos. As Annabeth and Luke started arguing about who should lead which teams, Ethan felt a pang. Recognizing the growing pit in stomach as jealously didn’t make the situation any better. Of course Luke would have friends at the camp. Close friends. Old travel buddies even. No reason to feel jealous.

            “So, Ethan, defense or offense?” Luke asked again, then pointed at Annabeth. “Annie here is going to led the defense, but I got the offense. So pick your vial of Gorgon’s blood, I guess.”  Ethan didn’t get the Greek reference, but he did get the meaning of the saying.

            “I’ll join the offense team.” Ethan announced. Luke hooted, and smacked him a highfive. Rubbing his stinging palm, Ethan smiled. _Never in all my life I would picture myself holding a sword, in the middle of a magical woods, about to engage in a deadly game of Capture the Flag._

            The warning conch sounded, causing Annabeth to yelp and run off to organize her team. Luke led Ethan to the group of people they would be playing with. After hasty introductions and greetings, they got straight down to business. “Now,” A girl, Lakshika, started. Drawing a crude drawing of the woods in the dirt, she pointed to a spot on the east side of the river. “This, is our territory. We planted the flag here,” Lakshika drew a “x” on the map. “It’s a tiny grove of saplings, no one will know where it is. Just in case though, we planted two guards by it. Of course, they’re more than ten yards away, we’re not getting dinged for that again. We’re all going to charge into the west side of the woods, right? Then, we got the other’s attention, Luke, Ethan, myself, Janet, and Frankie will make a dive for the flag. Meanwhile, William, Sami, Coby, Raj, and Ollie will fake out the enemy. Any objections?”

            The group was silent. “Good,” Lakshika stood up, and held her spear in the air. “For Team Blue!”

            “For Team Blue!” The rousing cheer echoed. As the horn sounded, the group fanned out. Sticking close to Luke, frankly one of the only people Ethan felt close to, he tightened his grip on his sword.

            “So,” Ethan cleared his voice, trying to make it go deeper. It was hard; when in panicked situations, his voice always went up, usually by several octaves. “What’s the deal with Annabeth? Girlfriend?”

            “Ew!” Luke blurted, causing Janet to hiss loudly. “Sorry! No way though. She’s like a sister to me, sheesh, I would never date her.”

            Ethan nodded, keeping a neutral expression on his face. Inside though, his heart was doing handstands, his spleen was doing the splits and his pancreas was performing plies. He was …excited and didn’t realize when he ran into a tree. “Ow!” Ethan said in surprise, although it didn’t really hurt. Luke rapped his knuckles on Ethan’s thick helmet. “That’s why we wear this, dude.” He chuckled.

            “Oh really?” The young demigod rolled his barely visible brown eyes and chewed on his lip. “I thought it was because-“

            “Guys!” Janet whispered loudly. “Trying to be sneaky here? Chit chat time is over.”

             After a hushed apology, the boys continued on their path for the flag. After about ten more minutes of walking, a shout rang out. It was a small group of demigods, labelled Team Red, by their blood coloured plumes on their helmets. Ethan gluped, and grasped his sword tighter. He was so not ready for an all out attack. Luckily, Team Blue’s plan carried on, and five members charged the Team Red group. Sneaking away, Ethan sighed, loud enough to get Luke’s attention.

            “Hey,” He whispered. “It’ll be alright, don’t worry so much!” Ethan gave him a wan smile, in some form of assurance, that he was doing fine. Clearly not impressed, Luke glanced around, and grabbed a discarded shield. “Here you go. That should help protect you, huh?” Ethan held it in hands, and smiled again. This time, it was more truthful.

            In what seemed to be seconds, the group spotted a red flag flapping in the breeze. Wedged in between some rocks, it was so…open. Frankie noticed this, and called the group in for a quick huddle. “Now,” He said in a low, calming and quiet voice. “Let’s play it cool. Janet and I will run off in two directions, hopefully distracting whatever guards they put in place. While we do that, Luke, go get the flag. Lakshika and Ethan will provide back up. Everyone good? Great! Spread out, team!”

            The group scattered in their own directions. Ethan nearly stepped on Luke’s heels, he was following so close. Lakshika held the left flank, and Ethan was in charge of the right. All was going well, until two guards sprouted out of the bushes on the right side! “Grab the flag, Luke!” Lakshika yelled. “Ethan and I can handle this!”

            Ethan, frankly, wanted to throw up and run for the hills. Instead he raised his sword and shield in defense.

 

*

 

            “Oh, gods.” Luke panted. He got the flag out of the rocks easily enough, thanks to the support from Lakshika and Ethan, and now he was sprinting towards the creek. Clambering on rocks, feeling the branches of tree whip him in the face…it was glorious. It was the reason he always volunteered to take the flag for the team. Not for the glory, and not for the sound of the cheers. Luke did for the feeling. The blood soaring, the heart thumping, and the Earth shaking. Wait. He paused, and stopped running. The Earth was shaking, but that wasn’t exactly a normal occurrence.

            Hiding behind a tree, flag clutched to his chest, Luke peered about. Trying to find the source of the shaking ground was in vain, however, there was nothing abnormal in sight. With a shrug, he carried on, carefully and slow, to the river. Then he heard the footsteps over someone chasing him. Luke began to run, making his way around traps and the uneven terrain. Man, he thought breathlessly, they are not giving up.

            “Luke!” A voice said, as someone tapped him on the shoulder. Luke held his sword with one hand, and still kept an iron grip on the flag with the other. Spinning around to his right, he swung his sword….

            …which ended up stuck in a tree.

            “W…what?” Luke stammered. Was this some holographic trick the Red Team cooked up? Hearing a sigh, he spun around again, this time to his left, and was face to face with a helmet.

            The owner of the helmet took it off, and Luke recognized those deep brown (with a hint of gold) eyes. “Geez,” Ethan huffed. “Someone’s sure jumpy today.”

            “Ethan, you scared me!” Luke groaned. “Here, hold the flag, I need to get my sword out.” Tugging on the hilt, he grunted with the effort. That sword was wedged in tight.

            Gripping the flag with sweaty palms, Ethan looked around at the dense woods. “We should get moving. Those guards might come back soon. Forget the sword!” Luke mournfully looked back as he got dragged away. Though it may have been a silly thing to get upset over, but still. That sword was special to him.

            Focusing on the present, the duo dashed –twice in the same day- throughout the woods. “I think the creek is that way.” Luke pointed to the right. “We could either make a broad loop around it or-whoa!” Ethan grabbed him with the hand not cradling the flag. “Or we could do the direct approach!”

            “I just want to get this over with,” Ethan said with gritted teeth. “We just have to cross the creek right?”

            “Yeah, that’s how you win it.” Luke was surprised at Ethan’s attitude adjustment. Though they just met the other day,  he thought the two of them had a nice team going on. “What’s wrong?”

            As they broke through the cover of trees, Ethan turned around. “What’s wrong is this camp. Who in the world would let kids run around in the woods with swords? Who would let someone do this?” On that dramatic note, Ethan held up his arm, exposed and bleeding.

            Grabbing it, Luke assessed the injury. “How did you even get this?”

            “When I was fighting those guards, one pinned me down. My arm plate fell off a while ago, and they..took advantage of the weak point.”

            “Some people take this way too seriously sometimes, huh? Lowlifes.” Luke rolled his eyes. “Well, you need to get it wrapped, to cut off the bleeding. Got any fabric on you?”

            “Whatever fabric I do have on is buried under metal.” Ethan glanced down at his armour. “Same goes for you.”

            Luke nibbled on his lip, and shrugged. Grabbing the flag, he tore off a strip and wrapped the wound. “Why did you do that?” Ethan asked, shocked. “Surely, someone is going to be angry.” His eyes flitted around the woods, as if someone was going to scold them.

            “Well,” Luke gave the injury a delicate pat. “It’s better than you bleeding a trail. Let’s get to the creek.”

 

*

 

            The small water source was flowing peacefully, as demigods waged mock battle on its banks. The Red Team had gotten their flag, and the Blue Team was struggling to hold them off a little longer.

            “Finally!” Someone shouted, upon Luke and Ethan’s arrival. “Get that flag over here already!”

            Glancing at the flag, Ethan felt a shove on his back. “Get on over there, hero.” Luke smiled. “Can’t leave your fans waiting after all.” As Ethan took a step forward, a chariot whizzed by.

            “What on Earth?” He was startled. “A chariot? In Capture the Flag?”

            “I must admit, it does seem a bit overkill.” Luke titled his head. “Is that...Arthur and Hector?”

            “Greetings, Camp Half Blood! Like my ride?” Arthur boomed, clearly in his element. As he began a speech about the chariot, and its long history, Ethan caught a movement in the corner of his eye.  Startled, he looked again. The Red Team was _tip toeing_ through the river, and they were carrying…

            “The flag!” An uproar rose, but it was too late. The Red Team planted their flag on their side of the creek. They won, once again.

            “Arthur! Hector!” Luke shouted. “You dirty pair of traitors!” The ruse became clear. What he heard in the cabin that morning, wasn’t a plan to get revenge for the raid by the Ares Cabin at all. They were both working as double agents all along!

            As Arthur and Hector dismounted their chariot, and slapped each other, and members of the Red Team, high fives, a mystical thing happened. All of the sudden, an icon of a classic Greek style shone above Arthur’s head. The boy glanced around, confused as to why everyone was staring at him. Glancing up, Arthur gasped.

            Chiron, appearing out of what seem to be nowhere, clapped his hands together. “Everyone! It appears someone has been claimed tonight! How lovely, a new child of Ares.”

            “What does that mean?” Ethan whispered to his new friend.

            “It refers to when a godly figure claims you, as your child. Usually after you’ve done something to get their attention. _Clearly,_ Lord Ares likes rotten traitors.” Luke said, with a bitter tone in his voice. Ethan nodded, pleased with the answer. He looked at Arthur being accepted by the Ares kids. Their form of acceptance had a lot of noogies in it, that’s for sure.

            As Ethan studied the scene, he noted Hector being lectured by a fleet of Team Blue people. Hector fleetingly looked at his friend, who was being praised by the others. Ethan was surprised to feel a pang go through him. It... was just so _unfair_. One person got claimed; the other scolded, even though they both did the same acts. As the group of demigods began heading in for the night, Ethan couldn’t help feeling guilty about the fiasco.

            “Hey, don’t worry about the games.” Luke bumped shoulders with him. “You win some, and you lose some. All part of life’s scales, you know?” Satisfied with Ethan’s mute nod of agreement, Luke went off to talk with some other friends.

            Ethan glanced up at the sky, at the twinkling stars. He thought about the constellations up there, heroes and villains of various myths throughout the ages. It was so hard to believe that some of those might have actually been real live people in history. Then again, it wasn’t strange at all. Ethan never realized it, until now, but he always did feel a pull towards Greek myths. Funny to think about what led him to this very moment. He was outside, in a strange place in the middle of the night, carrying a sword, shield, and a ruined flag. Even stranger was the fact he was with people that were doing pretty much the exact same thing. Ethan felt pretty sure he was unique in the sense of the flag thing though.

 

*

 

            “Alright!” Luke tossed his armour in the large pile ambulating on the floor of Cabin Eleven. “Yeah, we’ll pick that up later. Great work today, folks! Next time we’ll win it for sure. Now go on, and wash up before lights out."

           A grumbly hoard of campers in their pajamas headed out the door in order to get ready for bed. Hector lingered behind. “Hey Luke. Sorry about the thing with Arthur.”

            Flipping his blond hair out of the way, Luke nodded. “It’s fine. We’ve all done some…ah, bad moves. No big.” However breezy his words sounded, Ethan noticed that he still stuck out his tongue at Hector’s retreating back.

            “No big deal, huh?” Ethan mimicked, folding his clothes. He was now wearing the shirt he wore coming to camp, and a fresh pair of boxers. “You’re such a child.”

            Luke playfully slugged him. “You know me so well. Well, I would say you could nab Arthur's, now vacant bunk, but someone else already got dibs on it. I did put you on the waiting list though.”

            “So..we’re still sharing then?” Ethan asked, sliding the neatly folded stack of clothes under the pillow.

            “I’m ‘fraid so, dude.” Hopping onto the mattress, Luke shrugged. “At the meeting today, I made a request for an extension to be built, so people could actually sleep on a bed.”

            Ethan slid, facing Luke, onto the mattress. “Chances of that actually happening?”

            “Hmm…about the same as Zeus doing a tap dance for us at breakfast tomorrow.” They laughed at the mental image.

            The two were together in peaceful silence. Until the other campers came back at least. Then it was peaceful chaos, until the lights went out.

 

*

 

            It was two weeks after Ethan’s first game of Capture the Flag. He had gotten better at the game, and discovered his knack for playing defense. Arthur was doing well in the Ares cabin, and almost everyone had forgiven Hector. The two of them were probably never going to have their original friendship, however. On the other side of things, Clarisse and Silena celebrated their win with happiness, and the comfort of each other. Overall, the camp, and its residents, were happy with themselves. The heat wave of the summer was over, and they could now fully enjoy the wonders of nature.

            Ethan bit down on a juicy strawberry, and smiled as its sweetness soared into his mouth. He knew that he was supposed to be picking them, but he always had a soft spot for berries. Humming softly under his breath, Ethan filled the wicker basket with ease. As he sucked on the juice lingering on his fingers, he glanced up to see Luke.

            “Oops,” Luke winced as he accidentally squashed a strawberry plant. “Pretend that didn’t happen, will you?”

            With a shake of his head, Ethan patted the dirt beside him. “Take a seat. Less plants to murder over here.”

            Nimbly hopping around the forest of tall plants, Luke plopped on the bare dirt. “Oh lovely, I always thought this pair of shorts needed more dirt stains. Completes the look.”

            Ethan pelted a strawberry at him. “Stop making so many jokes! I’m trying to work here!” The pair of them began picking berries together, in happy silence. The sun was waning, no one was around, and the breeze was calming. Life was good.

            Sitting cross legged, Luke looked at Ethan. In the two short weeks they knew each other, his original reaction was correct. They did have a connection. The strange thing was, he just couldn’t get the words out.

            “Hey,” He said suddenly. “You have a splotch of dirt on your cheek.” Touching Ethan's face softly, he rubbed away the stain. His fingers lingered on Ethan’s face, until Ethan grabbed his hand. They sat there, together on the dirt, holding hands.

            “Is this what you wanted?” Ethan asked shyly, rubbing his fingers on Luke’s knuckles.

            “Believe me,” Luke’s voice took on a lower tone. “It is.”

           


End file.
